The Dangers of Substance Abuse: Examining Olamide's Controversial Image

Drug abuse is on an alarming rise here in Nigeria and one of the leading causes of drug abuse, especially among young people, is peer pressure. Peer pressure is often seen only as coming from friends a person surrounds themselves with, but in actuality, peer pressure can also come from the media that one consumes. If all over music videos and social media, a person keeps seeing drugs glamorized by their favorite celebrities, then they may begin to think to themselves "hey, look at my favorite artiste doing this, it must not be so bad" but in fact, it is. It is really really bad, and celebrities and public figures have a responsibility to make sure that they are not spreading harmful messaging to their fans and followers.

This discourse is happening again today because of an image posted by Nigerian rapper Olamide. Olamide is one of the most successful and respected rappers and artistes in Nigeria, and this week he posted a picture that has people enraged. Here is the picture Olamide posted and why people are so upset about it.

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So yesterday, Olamide posted this picture to his social media:

At first it doesn't look so bad if you're just scrolling, but then if you stop and take a closer look, things start catching your eye that become alarming. One doctor, Dr Sina, on Twitter reacted to the picture and did a good job of explained why the image is so harmful. Dr. Sina said:

DR. SINA: We just finished a space with NDLEA about people doing Balloons. Peep the picture..See Cannisters of Nitrous oxide close to the bed. Obviously pumped into the balloon Olamide is inhaling.

I maintain, if we will win a war on hard drugs. We need to clamp down on celebrities

Why is this nitrous oxide and balloon so dangerous you ask? Dr. Sina explains:

DR. SINA: If you do not know what doing Balloons and Nitrous oxide is. 'Balloons' are the colloquial name for Nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide is a gas that is usually inhaled by taking it through the nose or mouth. The gas is able to get into the blood, which carries to the Brain and other organs in the body. It is commonly called Laughing Gas due to sense of Euphoria, meaning it can gas the person up so much..they feel so high..happy..on top of the world. Feeling like the Next Elon Musk. they can start to see things which are not truly there. Fake Happiness

Here is where it gets dangerous. Prolong exposure to this Gas can damage the Brain and spinal cord. How? The gas is dangerous to the cells that make up the brain and spinal cord. Nitrous Oxide blocks Vit B12, so part of cells are not produced . Blood levels drop. It also can cause abnormal ringing in the ears, dizziness. Fainting. Studies have shown that the Gas is so toxic to the baby in pregnant women. The gas can diffuse through the placenta to the baby. It can actually kill the baby or cause deformities in the baby. Some other dangers are, in the long run it can cause memory loss, can drop the blood pressure sharply. It can cause heart attacks, sudden death and even problems with reproduction.

The list of death goes on and on. Now this what celebrities are introducing to us a big flex. Think about this before you experiment. It is high time NDLEA and other relevant bodies sweep into action before we start having deaths. Balloons might be the next Drug pandemic

Nawa! Our celebrities really need to be careful about the media they put out. On Twitter alone, Olamide's picture has been viewed over 1.3 million times already. That is a huge level of influence that public figures need to be mindful about. This is so dangerous and deaths from it are sadly already on the rise. Please be careful out there and say no to drug abuse!

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That's All.

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